📋 Tender Overview
Start Date: 01/06/2023
End Date: 31/05/2028
Total Eligible Budget: 2,507,223 €
EU Contribution: 1,880,409 €
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The Aeolian wall lizard – known in Latin as ‘Podarcis raffonei’ – is among the most endangered of European reptiles. Endemic to the Aeolian archipelago of Sicily, only four known populations survive today. They are found in geographically isolated locations, namely the three tiny islets of Strombolicchio, Scoglio Faraglione, La Canna, and a small promontory in Capo Grosso, on Vulcano Island. The species is considered ‘Critically Endangered’ (CR) because it occupies an area which spans less than 10 km². Its distribution is severely fragmented, and the numbers of the endangered species continue to decline across the Aeolian Islands. It is listed among the CR species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List; some 2 000 individuals remain and they are present in a lower overall area of 15 000 m². Such extreme isolation also leads to a lack of gene flow, low genetic variability, and inbreeding. Both ecological and anthropogenetic factors determine the current fragmented distribution and the demise of populations. The Aeolian wall lizard is considered to have once inhabited other islands of the archipelago before becoming isolated and sparsely distributed due to habitat loss and degradation.
